From rxpgnews.com
No 'basic clash' with Mufti, says Azad
By IANS,
Mar 22, 2007 - 8:33:46 PM
Jammu, March 22 - Jammu and Kashmir Chief Minister Ghulam Nabi Azad Thursday said there was 'no basic clash' with the People's Democratic Party - on the question of troop reduction in the state as PDP patron Mufti Mohammed Sayeed too seemed to have mellowed down after meeting the prime minister in New Delhi.
'PDP claims that the time for pulling out troops is right away, we say it will have to wait till violence and terrorism cease in Jammu and Kashmir. That is only a difference of perceptions, nothing beyond that,' Azad told reporters here on the sidelines of an official function.
It is for the first time that Azad was talking in a reconciliatory tone on the issue.
On PDP patron and former chief minister Sayeed's meeting with Prime Minister Manmohan Singh in New Delhi earlier in the day, Azad said: 'Mufti Sahib is within his rights to project his point of view, and we will go by what the prime minister would decide.'
Azad, however, maintained that the terrorist violence was still on in the border state and there was need for the presence of troops and their special powers.
'We cannot afford to take any step in haste which we might have to retrace if the situation worsens. Let's cure the disease fully before declaring that normalcy has returned and the troops can be back to barracks.'
The chief minister said there was neither confusion nor any clash within the government. 'We will complete our full term,' he said.
PDP has been threatening to pull out of the Congress-led government if its demand for the withdrawal of troops is ignored or sidelined.
'We are for pulling out of the government if our demand is not met. At least, I am very clear about it,' Finance Minister Tariq Hameed Karra told IANS.
'This is an issue, which we have given an expression to and we are pursuing it as an article of faith. We want a positive outcome for we are committed to the people,' Karra said.
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